Mês: agosto 2016

5 questions for Peter Lavelle: Saving the new Cold War

Por | 8 ago, 2016 | , , |

Peter Lavelle Aug 08, 2016 Question: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry recently visited Moscow. It is reported there were marathon talks on the situation in Syria. Later both sides admitted the talks amounted to nothing – a complete failure. You and others predicted this. So what was the point? Answer: Nominally speaking the agenda centered on how Washington and Moscow could enhance cooperation to resolve the conflict in Syria. That was the official line. But in reality Kerry had a two-track ploy. First, try still again to convince the Russians to abandon the legal and legitimate government in Syria (“Assad must go”). This approach also included the Russians assuming a subordinate role – including militarily – to Washington’s efforts in Syria. Of course all this is a non-starter with Moscow. Syria’s Assad is on the offensive and winning ground. Second, Kerry was in Moscow to stall for time. Barack Obama and Kerry may or may not want to end the proxy war in Syria, but it is clear the Washington foreign policy establishment (read: neocons) and thinktankistan (read: neocons) have no interest in ending this conflict. Quite the contrary, the war in Syria serves a number of connected foreign policy goals – and this has everything to do with the U.S. presidential election. Q.: You said Kerry is stalling for time. What is the plan? What is in...

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Michel (Dilma) & Vladimir

Por | 7 ago, 2016 | , , , , |

João da Silveira 07/08/2016 Michel (Dilma) na Primeira Semana de Agosto Uma semana de sonhos olímpicos, mas também de tristezas. Tristeza por Dilma e por Lula e pelo PT e por toda a nossa banda esquerda. Tristeza por nós mesmos. Por termos ido no canto da esquerda insuficiente. O que, aliás, acabou sendo necessário para que pudéssemos superar um recalque velho. O regime autoritário de direita inaugurado em 1964 e também insuficiente frustrou, como sabemos, a experiência do país com a esquerda. Por duas décadas o regime reprimiu, derrotou e anulou a esquerda, enquanto organizou sua saída de cena através duma transição conservadora conduzida pelo PMDB. Sob a égide do PMDB a esquerda voltou a prosperar. Elegeu-se Fernando Henrique em 1995 e, com a eleição de Lula em 2002, alcançou novamente o poder em sua plenitude. Desta vez o experimento não seria frustrado. Desta vez o país experimentaria o poder e as capacidades da esquerda ao longo de 13 anos, inclusive com apoio e aprovação internacionais. Em 2001, o economista Jim O’Neal, chefe de pesquisa em economia global do grupo financeiro americano Goldman Sachs, cunhou a expressão BRIC: Brasil, Rússia, Índia e China. Curioso é que ele não viu nesses países nenhuma ameaça ao capitalismo. Pelo contrário, ele viu nesses países a saída para a persistente estagnação das economias mais desenvolvidas. Brasil, Rússia, Índia e China iriam alcançar e...

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THE PARADOX OF BRAZIL AND ITS OLYMPIAD

Por | 7 ago, 2016 | , |

Jon Lee Anderson 05/08/2016   For many countries, the prospect of hosting the Summer Olympics is sought after as the maximum consecration of their place as a modern power. In the past century, this was notoriously evident at the Berlin Olympics, of 1936, which Adolf Hitler hoped to use to show off the Olympian superiority of his master race. Eight years ago, the Beijing Olympics, with their showy inaugural ceremony and no-expenses-spared sports venues, were China’s statement about its place on the world scene. When Brazil was selected as the host of this Olympiad, seven years ago, it seemed fitting that the great South American nation—much admired for many things, including its people’s renowned charisma—should have the honor of hosting the 2016 Games. Over the course of the previous decade, the Brazilian behemoth had finally awoken from its provincial slumbers to become an international economic powerhouse, emerging as the “B” in the vaunted bric group of nations. (The others are Russia, India, and China.) This rise was presided over by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva—known as Lula, a President with a rock-star popularity, whose social and economic policies had lifted thirty million Brazilians out of extreme poverty and brought twenty million more into the middle class. Brazil had also begun to exercise a commensurate measure of influence on the global political scene, with Lula dispensing advice and bear hugs to a range...

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Temer: candidato em 2018 se tiver desempenho para isso

Por | 7 ago, 2016 | , |

Elio Gaspari 03/08/2016   Depois da Guerra Civil Americana, circularam em Washington notícias de que o general William Sherman seria candidato à Presidência dos Estados Unidos. Ele fora o grande comandante da devastação do sul rebelde, era amado pela tropa e pelo homem da rua. Seria uma barbada. Para encerrar a conversa, Sherman informou: “Nunca fui e nunca serei candidato a presidente; se for indicado, recusarei a candidatura; e mesmo que venha a ser eleito por unanimidade, não assumirei o cargo”. Depois que o deputado Rodrigo Maia levantou a possibilidade de uma candidatura de Michel Temer em 2018, ele disse que “não cogito disputar a reeleição”. O comentário de Temer e a declaração do general Sherman permitem que se meça a distância que separa quem quer e quem não quer ser candidato. Temer não sabe como chegará a 2018, mas se chegar na condição lembrada por Maia, com “50% de ótimo e bom”, cogitará e será candidato. Afinal, ele disse que não queria o lugar de Dilma Rousseff, bem como Lula e Fernando Henrique Cardoso diziam que não queriam a reeleição. Por enquanto, o Datafolha informa que seu governo tem uma avaliação medíocre. Na faixa do ótimo e bom há só 14% dos entrevistados. Dilma saiu do Planalto com 13%. Entre os muitos problemas do país está a incerteza em relação aos candidatos que disputarão a Presidência em 2018....

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10 Facts The Mainstream Media Won’t Tell You About The War In Syria

Por | 5 ago, 2016 | , , , |

Darius Shahtahmasebi 04/08/2016   Corporate media regularly attempts to present Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria as solely responsible for the ongoing conflict in the region. The media does report on events that contradict this narrative — albeit sparingly — but taken together, these underreported details shine a new light on the conflict. 10: Bashar al-Assad has a higher approval rating than Barack Obama Despite Obama’s claims Assad is illegitimate and must step down, the fact remains that since the conflict erupted in 2011, Assad has held the majority support of his people. The elections in 2014 – which Assad won by a landslide with international observers claiming no violations – is a testament to the fact that although Assad has been accused of serious human rights violations, he continues to remain reasonably popular with the Syrian people. Obama, on the other hand, won elections in 2012 with a voter turnout of a mere 53.6 percent of the American public; only 129.1 million total were votes cast. This means approximately 189.8 million American people did notvote for Obama. His current approval rating sits at about 50 percent. 9: The “moderate” opposition has been hijacked There is no longer such a thing as “moderate” opposition in Syria – if there ever was. The so-called Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) has been dominated by extremists for years. The U.S. has known this yet has continued to support the Syrian opposition, despite the fact the New York Times reported in 2012 that the majority...

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